Although Lia was quite bewildered for a second, she nodded her head and said,
"Princess Selain said that we shall all meet up for breakfast soon... Shall we go together?"
She knew that Rio always liked to play tricks on her from time to time, and she was already used to them; this sudden smile was likely one of his tricks too.
'T-that was quite dangerous for my heart though... I have become so accustomed to his emotionless face that I get overwhelmed just by seeing him smile...'
Rio was also standing there with an unbuttoned shirt, so Lia was sure that he was definitely doing it on purpose!
"By the way, how was your evaluation test?... Mine was a massive illusion. Sigh. Till the end, I never figured out that the whole place was an illusion, and I was still sleeping in the dragon palace all along..."
Walking beside Lia, Rio sighed a bit and said,
"Not much interesting, actually... I just had to beat up a golem, and it was done... I think the evaluator lacked in terms of originality... Your test sounds more interesting, actually..."
Lia sighed at those words and thought to herself.
'Sigh, as expected, these mere evaluation tests are indeed nothing to him...'
"By the way, I heard that you will have a spar with the princess, and you also made a bet? Is it really okay to beat up the princess of a nation when we are their guests?"
Lia never even took into consideration that Rio can even lose; the only time she has ever seen Rio lose to someone in a 1v1 battle was against Jin during the combat training and against Alverto in Oaklum.
Both of them were peak S rankers; otherwise, the outcome would have been much different. She has never seen anyone in her life who is as talented as Rio in terms of swordsmanship. Even that junior named Qi Meng, who usually wanders around Rio, isn't really that big of a deal, in her opinion. (She keeps track of who is in contact with Rio; don't forget she's a professional stalker...)
Rio nodded his head at those words and replied with his usual emotionless voice.
"It's not that big a deal... She wants to learn 'Sword Intent' to prove herself worthy..."
Lia rolled her eyes and asked,
"So... what do you think? Will she be able to learn it?"
Rio nodded his head at Lia and said in a calm voice,
"She's just lacking an opportunity; she has the talent and mentality... I guess she will really be able to learn it in less than five years..."
Originally, Rio's estimate was that she would need a decade to learn it, but now it's different.
He has found out from Fenix that her relationship with her father and the others in the dragon valley is not really that good.
She must undoubtedly exert significant effort to enhance her skills in recent years, as she is rapidly approaching Rank S.
Moreover, her sword aptitude is likely at the same level as Qi Meng; at least she can definitely become a strong peak powerhouse in the future.
"It's quite rare for you to praise someone so much... I guess she really is talented, then if you are praising her so much.."
Lia pouted her cheeks a bit and glared at Rio.
Although she was a bit jealous, she wasn't angry anymore.
She has first-hand seen Selain's abilities in battle, and she's indeed quite good. Rio's wasn't overly praising her; he was just stating the truth.
Looking at Rio, Lia could only sigh to herself; his personality has always been like this.
He praises the talent of others, but when he has to fight the other party in combat, he will become very merciless and will thoroughly destroy the other party as if it were a child's play to him.
Rio has a habit of praising and even sweet-talking sometimes no matter who the other person is, but once you meet him in battle, you will understand just how thorough his observation skills are and how insane of a monster he is.
If the usual Rio is like an emotionless sculpture who is usually harmless and sometimes even praises them, then the Rio during combat is like an incarnation of death who can see through all your moves.
There's no point in arguing with him in that state; he can see through most weaknesses easily; his insane sword aptitude allows him to see any and every flaw that an opponent swordsman makes.
There's a reason why Link and Liam are always on the edge and are trying so hard to train and improve. The pressure that Rio's combat power brings on the whole team Astra is really high.
Even Lia fears that she might be left behind by him in dust one day.
Moreover, his 'Sword Intent' mastery is nothing to joke about; he can literally use a skill that can slaughter thousands of enemies as a hand warmer, and this is already an insane feat. The rapid improvement of all Team Astra members is not due to their exceptional talent.
The real reason is that they are all under constant pressure due to Rio; thus, they train day and night to catch up to him as fast as possible.
...
Seeing that pout on Lia's face, Rio pinched her cheeks a bit and said with a smile,
"You don't need to be so jealous about her... In my opinion, no one shines brighter than you, my eternal Moonlight..."
A slight blush appeared on Lia's face hearing those words of praise.
If someone else had said that, she would have ignored those words, but as Rio is the one who said them, this is one of the biggest compliments she has ever received.
Evaluation? Test? Genius or Excellent?
In her opinion, all of this doesn't even matter; as long as Rio acknowledges her, she doesn't need the world's acknowledgement; without him, the world is meaningless.
Lia sighed to calm her emotions and inquired in a hesitant tone.
"Uh... Can you tell me how you became so strong... You know, strong enough to beat even Link
and become the champion..."
Hearing that question, the smile over Rio's face vanished, and he shook his head.
"You seek power when there is need for it, and without sacrifices, power usually doesn't bless
you..."
"You don't need to worry too much about it, Lia; you are on the right path; just keep working hard and you will become strong..."
Unlike Rio, who has lost his emotions in pursuit of power, Lia is on a better path; although her enhancement pace is slower than his, she's certainly doing better than most people.
In fact, he's the one who needs to reflect on himself.
'I remember someone saying that those who become too powerful loose emotions and go bald in the process... ugh... don't tell me I will lose my hair too...'
Rio already is barely decent-looking; if he lost even his hair, then he seriously will lose a lot
of confidence in terms of looks and stuff.
'I hope such a thing doesn't happen...'
Just when Rio was contemplating in his mind, Lia grabbed his hand and directly kissed him.
Even Rio was taken aback by her sudden, bold move.
"Hmph, complimenting me like that will get you kissed!"
Rio laughed a bit at those words and said,
"Haha, you are saying it like, as if it's some kind of punishment..."
Lia's face was already quite red; she directly grabbed his hand and dragged him with her.
"W-whatever! Let's go! We are late!"
Seeing that Lia was already quite embarrassed, Rio didn't pressure her anymore and stayed silent for the next while.
...
By the time the two of them arrived at the dinner table for breakfast, everyone else had
already arrived.
They were the last ones.
Liam, who was in a sour mood for some reason, glanced at the two holding hands and sighed
to himself.
He then glanced at Link, who was personally feeding Riya with his own hands. He was
spoiling her, treating her like a princess.
'Er, everywhere I look, there's just couples wandering around...'
Liam glanced at Selain, who was also in the same situation as him, and asked,
"Princess, don't you think that there's a lot of merit in being single?"
Selain, who was in the same boat as Liam, sighed at those words, grabbed the juice, and
pretended to be drunk while saying,
"Sigh, this world is cruel for us single folks... We need a great warrior as yourself to burn this
world..."
Liam also nodded his head and pretended to be sad before saying,
"Princess, we need to purge the world of these shameless couples who are purposely messing around in front of us... Please give your orders to the army!"
Selain also followed along with Liam's 'play' and replied in a solemn tone.
"The enemy is powerful, my general; we will need more powerful warriors in the army..."
And just like that, the two of them passed time while spitting random bullsh*t at each other and trying to ignore the two couples who were purposely being all lovey-dovey in front of
them.
...
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
It's been a while since I wrote a chapter solely on Lia and Rio, so let's make the next few
chapters that way.
Question of the day.
Which couple do you support the most?
1. Rio and Lia.
2. Link and Riya.
3. Others (Burn the world!!!)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones!!